The German Party received an unexpected letter in which the bank showed interest in shipments for “solidarity projects” with Cuba.
LIMA, Peru – The cooperative bank GLS Gemeinschaftsbank eG, based in Bochum, Germany, canceled all accounts of the German Communist Party (DKP) as of December 31.
The Party itself reported on the incident last Tuesday and, although it points out that the bank did not give a reason, indications published by the media jungle world They refer to aid sent to the regime in Cuba.
Klaus Leger, treasurer of the organization, told the German newspaper that in September the DKP received an unexpected letter in which the bank showed interest in donation payments for “solidarity projects with Cuba.”
It was something “totally new” to receive such a query from a bank, the treasurer highlighted, alleging that other organizations that are explicitly dedicated to sending aid to the Island had never experienced something similar as clients of the GLS.
In that sense, one of these organizations offered statements last Wednesday to jungle world. “We are very concerned and very attentive,” they acknowledged.
Leger commented that in the original letter the bank asked if the donations collected by the DKP went to Cuban state institutions and how the money arrived in Cuba.
In conversation with the German newspaper, the national treasurer explained that the donations that entered a DKP account were withdrawn by Party officials and personally delivered to partner projects on the Island.
However, Leger failed to mention that on the Cuban side the so-called “solidarity projects” are managed directly by officials. of the Castro regimewhile civil society suffers repression, scrutiny and censorship.
From the customer service area of the business sector, the DKP learned that the cancellation affected all the accounts of the Party sections that had opened an account in the GLS through the leadership of the communist organization. A dozen accounts, the treasurer confirmed.
The president of the German Communist Party, Patrik Köbele, described the incident as “scandalous” and confirmed that the will of his organization feels reinforced towards “international solidarity with Cuban socialism (…) in the context of illegal international sanctions,” referring to the US embargo against the Government of Havana.
For his part, GLS spokesperson Lukas Feldmann commented this week that the cancellation was carried out “within the framework of the regulations and legal requirements” that must be met. “The decision has no relation to political reasons,” he explained.
The DKP considers that the damage caused by the cancellation is “still unpredictable.” The executive committee, he notes, can still handle the situation thanks to its paid employees, but the many volunteers now face much greater difficulties.
In this regard, Leger highlighted that the Party Committee has been looking for an alternative to the GLS bank.
